Spiraling
by xXannabellXx
Summary: Red and Purple are still in training. Purple doesn't talk much, and Red wants to know why...But the situation spirals out of control shortly after Purple starts getting suspicious bruises.
1. Teacher

**Disclaimer, I don't own Invader Zim or the characters, etc, because they belong to Jhonen Vasquez.**

"Honestly, Purple! How are you constantly getting hurt? If you're in a fight, you have to hit them _back_! There are only two in-trainings bigger that you, and one of them is a female! Then there's _one_ your height! That really helps in a fight! So, _maybe_ two students could hurt you, but you're getting hurt _way_ too often for that! Why isn't anyone else getting sent to the nurse's office?...It _is_ a student doing this, _isn't it_?" The training adviser lectured Purple.

"No, ma'am, I just...I'm clumsy. I hit my head. The door was built for smaller Irkens." He lied.

"Whatever. Just, go to the nurse's office, they might be able to do something!" The adviser snapped. Purple went to the nurse's office, his eye closed where his left ocular implant was broken. Someone ran into him in the hallway.

"HEY WAT- Oh, hey Pur." It was his roommate, Red. Red was the only other student his exact height (Miyuki and Spork were a small bit taller than him).

"Oh, hey, how'd you do that?" Red asked, pointing to Purple's broken implant. "You blind in that eye now?"

"Momentarily."

"How'd ya' do that, then? Get in a fight?"

"_No!_" Purple snapped, then added, "Hit my head." Red just shrugged and walked away. Purple stepped into the office. The secretary, Amy, smiled, and said into the microphone,

"Nurse Gera, Purple's here for his weekly appointment." _This_ was a joke. Amy often joked that Purple had a weekly appointment because he came in so often. He actually came in more often than once a week. Purple walked through the big double-doors. Through this was a hallway. He walked in the first door.

"Purple! What'd you do this time?" Gera asked. Purple opened his left eye to reveal the cracked implant.

"_Wow_!...Okay, I'll get another one." Nurse Gera started shuffling through the cabinets behind her. "Ya' know, you're lucky you need the purple ones, because we often run out of the red ones, and sometimes the blue and green ones...Ah, here's a good replacement. Here," The nurse removed the broken one, and popped the replacement in.

"Thanks," Purple mumbled, before running out. He tried to leave before they could ask questions. He went back to his room. Red was playing with blocks, but quickly hid them.

"Oh- Um- Hey!" Red stammered.

"Don't worry, I already know you play with smeet toys." Purple said.

"Pft. Fine. What's up with _you_?"

"What?"

"You don't talk, you're constantly getting hurt, yet you never get into any fights!...Did that _Zim_ kid hit you with an experimental laser or something?"

"No. I woulda hurt him."

"So it's someone you can't hurt?" Red asked.

"NO! It's no one! I'm just clumsy! Why does everyone think-"

"Jeez, okay...But I've never seen you fall."

"No one would see _me _push _you _down a flight of stairs, but that could _perfectly well_ happen." Purple threatened.

"...I don't believe you." Red said smugly, and started building a new tower with his blocks.

"That I'd push you?"

"That you're clumsy!..." Red gasped. "Do you have a thing with the nurse? Are you sleeping with her?"

"I AM NOT SLEEPING WITH THE NURSE!" Purple yelled. There were giggles from the other side of the door. Red opened it. Miyuki and Zim were on the other side.

"Hello, Miyuki!...What do _you_ want, Zim?" Red asked flatly.

"Science is canceled tomorrow," She said between giggles. They both turned around to walk away, but Red grabbed Zim. Miyuki left.

"Zim, what did you do to Purple?" Red demanded, dragging the much smaller Irken into the room. Zim's antennas wilted innocently.

"Zim did nothing to Purple. _Buuuuuut_, Zim _did_ hear some smacky-noises coming from an empty classroom, and Purple walk out with a broken ocular implant a few minutes later." Zim said. Red was about to say something else, but Purple screamed,

"_YOU SAW NOTHING! _Red, he didn't do anything! GET OUT, ZIM! NOW! And it's nothing to worry about, Red! Just let me take a nap!" Zim ran out. Red gave Purple a suspicious look.

"Who're you trying to protect?"

"I'm _trying_ to sleep."

"Denial and obsessive sleeping are-"

"I don't care! Shut up or go away!" Purple snapped. Red was used to his outbursts. He quieted, and went back to playing with the toys he hid under the bed. _Why would he want to protect someone who's beating him up constantly? ARG! Why do I even care?...But I do, so I have to figure out who it is...It's not Zim. Purple could hurt Zim, and I don't think he'd want to protect him. It can't be Miyuki. She's too nice to do something like that. Not Spork, because I _don't_ believe he and Purple have even formally met, or talk to each other...And why would Purple want to protect anyone else! DAMMIT!_ Red knocked down the tower and stomped out. _I'll use the free time from class being canceled tomorrow to find out...I'm gonna seriously hurt whoever's doing this!_

Earlier that day: Purple walked nervously to his councilor's office. His councilor was a mean female. He knocked on the door of the empty classroom. No answer. He looked at the classroom number and at the scrap piece of paper. It was the right one. He walked in. His councilor, Mrs. Leons, scowled at him.

"There you are! What's wrong with you, you incompetent defect?...Whatever! Come in! You said you wanted to see me?" Mrs. Leons growled.

"Y-Yes, ma'am. I-I don't think..."

"You don't think what?"

"I don't think us meeting three or four times a week is necessary..." Purple squeaked timidly.

"...Not necessary?..._Not necessary?_ If you weren't a stupid defect, it _wouldn't_ be necessary..." Mrs. Leons hissed. It was almost a whisper.

"It's just...I...I always have to go to the nurse afterwords, and people are starting to ask how I get hurt..."

"Go ahead! Tell them! They won't believe you!" Mrs. Leons snapped.

"I'm not saying I will!...But..." He almost mentioned Red.

"But _what_? It's that simple! You can tell them all you want! You'll go into a defect trial and be erased forever! That's the end of it! I meet with you so often to see if I can somehow prevent that!" She backhanded him. "But-" _Smack!_ "-If you-" _Smack!_ "-Don't listen-" _Smack!_ "-It'll all be in vain!" _Smack!_ "Gottit, _boy_?" If she didn't call him something along the lines of 'incompetent defect', it was 'boy', as if his name was poisonous. He nodded, and turned around to leave. She put her hand on the back of his head and smashed his face against the wall. This was when his ocular implant broke.

"You'll leave when I tell you to! You can go!" She hissed. She called after him,"And if anyone asks about the implant, you hit your head!"

When Purple woke up, he realized something; Mrs. Leons taught science. Missing her class meant she would want to see him later. He groaned, and buried his face into the pillow. Sometimes, he wished he could suffocate himself with the pillow. Unfortunately, Irken instincts made him pull back up before he could even pass out. Of course, the adrenaline rush was always nice...

"HEY PUR, I'M COMIN' IN, SO IF YOU'RE NOT DECENT-"

"Since when do you care when I'm not decent?" He yelled at the door. Red walked in.

"Good point. Hey, sorry 'bout earlier."

"Sorry I snapped at you." Purple mumbled. He didn't talk to people, and Red was the closest thing to a friend he had. Red was a bit of the opposite. He talked to almost everyone, and always could make them laugh. Still, he chose to stand up for Purple. Purple was always glad Red didn't just ignore him. When you make it clear you _don't_ want very many friends, most people just stopped talking to you. Of course, Red was too stubborn to give in to Purple's anti-social nature. Purple was beginning to suspect that Red enjoyed the challenge of getting the most anti-social kid in their training group to talk to him.

Red _did_ enjoy it. He saw it as some sort of a personal accomplishment that Purple talked to him. Still, Purple didn't talk much. He didn't even talk as much as an acquaintance. Still, Red knew Purple didn't like big groups, so he always dismissed the crowd of people that seemed to always surround him when Purple came. To Red, life and death and everything in between was just a big game, and he was currently focusing on the game of getting Purple closer. He didn't know why he did it- He just knew he wanted to.

Red walked in and sat on the floor. He pulled the large tub of toys out from under the bed. It was almost routine. He got out more blocks and started building something. Purple sometimes wondered why Red still liked playing with smeet toys. He had once asked, but Red just shrugged. He had said, "Isn't everything just a game?...This way, I can play, people can die, but not _really die_." Purple just accepted it as Red _probably_ being a sociopath.

"Hey, Pur?" Red asked. Purple wouldn't admit it, but he liked being called that, but only by Red.

"Yeah?"

"...Um...Just, tell me something, is the reason for your always being bruised a cause of a student...Well, no...I mean...Is it...Is it a student that we've seen at the same time, today, outside a classroom?"

"This, again?"

"Just answer me!"

"Fine! No. Not to imply it's_ anyone's _fault..."

"All I needed! Thanks, Pur..." Red swept the blocks back under the bed and walked out. Purple shrugged. _Well...Maybe it is someone's fault...If I weren't so stupid, she wouldn't hate me so much..._


	2. Meeting

Purple woke up. As usual, waking up came with a rush of different emotions. One, disappointment sleeping was over. He always had nightmares, but in nightmares, the effects don't stay. Two, confusion. He could sleep forever, and sometimes didn't know where he was, or what was going on. Today, the third emotion was a pain in his face an side; His face was still bruised, and he had fallen off the bed and onto a pile of blocks. And, surprise. He was a bit surprised that for once, Red had gotten up before him. Red woke up better and more often, but usually refused to get out of bed until being forced.

"Wow, you sleep like a log. All classes were canceled for some huge meeting. Ya' know what that means?" Red announced.

"No."

"It _means_ there's something happening that the teachers want to keep a secret, and are concerned about. And it also means there won't be any teachers _outside_ the meeting room, so they won't see us listening from outside."

"If classes are canceled, I'm sleeping." Purple said flatly.

"There are bigger things in life that sleeping! C'mon! I won't take no for an answer!"

"So I can stand in a huge group of random idiots? No. Thanks."

"I...Er...Kinda just wanted you to come," Red admitted sheepishly. Purple sighed. His body only allowed him to sleep so long, and he had been sleeping for almost twenty hours.

"Might as well..."

Red knew where the meeting room was. They both leaned against the door, listening to the conversation inside.

"...Fighting _way_ to often! Students are constantly in the nurse's office for fighting! We have to order new medical supplies almost weekly!" That sounded like Nurse Gera. Red smirked, elbowed Purple, and mouthed, "Your girlfriend". Purple rolled his eyes.

"Perhaps it's not a fighting issue. As I _recall_, I haven't seen a physical fight in months! Any moron could figure out that it seems to be just _one student_ who is _constantly_ hurt! It's not a fighting issue, because this _particular student_ doesn't even talk enough to start a fight!" A nasally voice snapped. The voice belong to the chemist teacher. He seemed greasy, and was harsh. "In fact, any defect could figure out that this is an obvious abuse case! For the love of Irk, students are suspecting abuse! I would _assume_ that the people _teaching_ the students would be _SOMEWHAT SMARTER THAN THE STUDENTS THEMSELVES!_" He slammed his fists on the table. There was an awkward pause. Purple could feel his face getting warmer. The 'particular student' was obviously him.

"I don't get what everyone's squawking about! It's no big deal! Maybe they'll kill each other and not be our issue!" Mrs. Leons snarled. She and the chemist teacher, Mr. Nathair, didn't exactly get along. It was a wonder why not, because they were the two nastiest teachers. Red often joked they were secretly in love.

"The issue isn't fighting! It's something worse! And this particular student wouldn't have an issue reporting another _student_!" Mr. Nathair hissed.

"_What're you trying to say?_" Mrs. Leons screamed.

"I'm trying to say that one of our staff is a complete mongoloid, that's all. One that seems to feed on innocent student's misery." Mr. Nathair said smoothly. Purple got up and walked away.

"_Wait! Purple!_" Red whispered. Purple acted like he didn't hear him.

The meeting went on for a long time, but the moment it was over, Purple knew to see Mrs. Leons. Red tried to stop him.

"Wait, Pur, I-"

"I don't care! Whatever you heard, I'm sure it's just...junk!" Red tried to stop him, but Purple walked out of the dorm-room. He went to Mrs. Leons office. He walked in, flinching a little at her facial expression. She seemed furious.

"Boy. Sit down." Purple did as he was told, and sat down. "I am going to ask you once. Did you lie?"

"About what?"

"Did you tell one of your stupid little friends what happens in our..._meetings_?"

"I don't have any friends, and I told no one," Purple said dryly. Mrs. Leons stared at him for a long time. She got something out of her desk, but he didn't see what it was.

"Now, dear, I'll give you one more chance." Her voice was sickeningly sweet. "Do not lie. You have one more chance to tell the truth."

"I am! I told no one!" Purple insisted. She threw something at him. It was a tack. She grabbed his shirt.

"Stupid little liar!" She threw him across the room. He hit the wall.

"Why don't you just go to the nurse, now?" She suggested. He knew she was really commanding him to, but didn't know why. At least, not until he got there.

"Purple, I need to talk to you," Nurse Gera said. "I...Due to new rules, I...can't help you unless you say how it happened."

"I did! I fell down some stairs!"

"We can no longer treat self injuries. I'm sorry Purple...Unless someone did this to you, we can't help you." Nurse Gera turned around to hide the fact that there were tears in her eyes. Purple knew he had to leave, and ran out as soon as he could.

"I'll tell you one more time, Zim!" Red hissed, holding Zim to the wall by his throat,"Tell me who the teacher was in the room with Purple!"  
"Zim swears, he has no idea!" Zim insisted. Red growled, and dropped him. Zim pointed to somewhere behind Red. Red turned around, to see Purple standing behind him.

"Leave 'im alone, Red. He has no idea what he's talking about. It was probably a demented hallucination." Purple said flatly. Zim ran like there was no tomorrow.

"Purple, who is it? I know _someone's_-" Red tried.

"I have to go see my counselor." He said flatly. He had actually gotten a note from Mrs. Leons saying he did.

"Boy! There you are!" Mrs. Leons said when Purple walked in.

"Yes, ma'am."

"So, you know the new policy?...I voted against it, but Mr. Nathair insisted, along with half the rest of them..."

"Thank you, ma'am. I agree. It's a stupid rule."

"Sooooo...I have something for you. These will help with the bruises." Mrs. Leons handed Purple something.

Purple turned the pill-bottle over in his hands. _Should I...?_ He knew she would know if he didn't...He took one.

The voice sounded far away.

"_...Purple...?...Purple?...Purple!...SOMEONE HELP!...Purple!_" Red shouted, shaking Purple. But he didn't wake up.

**Don't worry..much more will happen...And he isn't dead, so don't send your rabid piggies after me!**


	3. You Are Under Arrest

Purple felt dizzy. He could hear talking around him. He was in a bed much softer than his own.

"_You _idiot!_ Get off him!_" Nurse Gera yelled.

"_I'm not leaving!...And I'm not _directly_ on him..._" Red said defensively. He added in a sing-song tone,"You can't make me le-ave!" Purple heard Gera smack her palm to her forehead.

"_Whatever! But, they _could _use this against you._"  
"_Use it against me? Who?_"

"_This is the _first_ suicide attempt here, in underground training. They want to do an _entire investigation."

"_What, they think _I _tried to kill him?_"

"_Do _you_ think he would have killed _himself_?_"

"_...No._" Red admitted.

"_That's why their doing an investigation._"

"_Wait, how could they _use this against me?"

"_I dunno, but they try to find a way, they always try..._" Nurse Gera walked away. Red sighed. Purple tried to move, but his limbs felt heavy, like they were made of metal. He felt so tired. He tried to say something, but it came out as just a breath. His head was a bit more clear now than it had been, but he was still confused. _Suicide attempt?...Why am I in the hospital?_ He thought.

"_Purple, if you hadn't _just_ almost died...I would kick your ass! Why would you want to kill yourself? Arg!...I-I can't...I don't want _another _roommate!...I-I know it's _selfish_ and _stupid_ and _horrible_, but I can't explain it!...I'm kinda glad you can't hear me..." _Red added. Purple realized that Red didn't know he could hear him. Under most circumstances, Purple would have corrected him, but he was paralyzed. "_...They're doing an investigation...First suicide attempt in underground training...I know you wouldn't kill yourself. What happened? _Were_ you trying to kill yourself?_

"_I don't know what to think! I just...I...I don't think you tried to kill yourself. No, you were happy- At least, before you started getting all the bruises. You talked, or so I've heard...You didn't know who I was before we were put together as roommates, but...I knew who you were. I had heard of you, and saw you. You always were surrounded by friends...No, it was before that. When we were smeets, you got dropped out of the test tube at about the time I did. I saw you had _Purple_ eyes...I thought that was so fasinating, I kept on thinking about it, even in the Painful Overload situation, when Zim clogged up the tubes that the smeets dropped down?_

"_I was intrigued by your purple eyes. All the other male smeets I_ _saw had red eyes. None had purple. I asked around, and found out your _name _was Purple...I don't know what I'm trying to say...Visiting hours were over quite a while ago. Gera will have my head if she knows I'm still here._" Purple heard Red get up and walk away.

Red yawned, and a few kids laughed. Chemistry class was _always_ boring, but he was yawning because he was really tired, not because he was_ trying_ to mock Mr. Nathair. Mr. Nathair growled at him.

"Red! Work time is to be used to actually work! Maybe you would get better grades if you payed attention and used the work time, rather than goofing off!"

"I wasn't goofing off. I really am tired." Red said in his own defense, trying not to yawn again.

"Why is that?"

"I...I'm honestly used to snoring-noises, and they weren't there," Red admitted. He felt his face get warmer. Mr. Nathair didn't say anything else. It had been two days since Purple had woken up, but they still weren't letting him leave. The police even came. He had been trying to visit Purple in the hospital, but the police told him he couldn't.

"Red! There you are! You're needed in the office! _Now_." A teacher told Red. _Oh well...It's better than double-science class,_ Red decided. He walked down to the office. By now, he had memorized several different ways there. He walked in, surprised to see that instead of an adviser, the police chief was sitting behind the desk.

"Are you Red?"

"Yes."

"Sit." Red read the name tag on the police chief's uniform: "Y. Ketri".

"You're a friend of the kid in the infirmary, right?" Ketri asked. Red nodded.

"His name is Purple." It irritated him when people didn't acknowledge the fact that Purple had a name.

"What do you know about his situation? You _were_ the one who found him passed out, correct?"

"Yes, sir. I don't know much. But he wouldn't_ kill himself_. He was perfectly happy before he started getting all these bruises."

"When did this start?"

" 'Bout a year ago," Red yawned.

"When did you become roommates?"

"Um...About a year ago. We all got dorm rooms, and advisers, and live teachers." Red said. He was starting to feel a tiny bit uncomfortable.

"Who would have an issue with him?" Ketri asked.

"No one. He was quiet and didn't get into trouble. I don't get why anyone would hurt him so often."

"Is it true that he claimed he was just 'being clumsy'? Doing things like hitting his head, falling down stairs?"

"He did."

"Did you know him before this year?" Ketri asked.

"No."

"That is all. Go back to class." Red nodded, and walked out, but he didn't plan on going to science. Even if he had an excuse, Mrs. Leons would find some ridiculous reason to punish him for being late. He was going to try to visit Purple in the infirmary.

That didn't work out. A police officer stopped him. Still, _anything_ was better than being late for science. Now that he had walked to the infirmary, he didn't have an excuse for being as late as he would have been. He walked back to his room.

Mrs. Leons glanced at the door. The teacher standing on the other side smiled through the small window, then walked in. Mrs. Leons didn't have any students at that moment.

" 'Scuse me, Mrs. Leons? You're wanted down at the office."

There was a loud knock on the door. It sounded like they were hitting the door, rather than knocking. Red looked up, and two uniformed police officers rushed in.

"You are Red, correct?" One asked. Still confused, Red nodded.

"You're under arrest."

"What for?" Red asked, but he already knew.

"Attempted murder."


	4. The Old Man's Story

The entire cell was gray. The walls, the ceiling, the cots. The only slivers of color were on the people in the cells, and in the little window that showed a six inch by six inch glimpse of the hallway. Red was on the top bunk. This was his first trip to the surface. Everyone wanted to see the surface, but for a _murder trial_? Not really worth it. The male Irken on the bunk below him was old. He didn't seem to be much of a threat. He finally spoke.

"You don't seem like a bad person. Why're you here?" He asked. His old voice often cracked.

"Attempted murder."

"I assume you didn't really do it?" The old man asked.

"No. But isn't that what _everyone_ says?...How long have you been in here?"

"I've been in and out for years, but I got here this time a week ago," The old man explained.

"Why? Is it the same thing every time?"

"Yes. You wouldn't believe me if I told you why." The old man laughed in a dry, humorless way.

"Today, I've learned that the surface has a sky, there are tiny things growing out of the ground called plants, and that Irkens are superior, but not perfect. Try me."

"What do you mean by that?" The old man asked.

"I know someone, who's clearly getting abused, yet they refuse to tell anyone what's happening. Then there's whoever is abusing them. Our law system is bad, too. I think it should be obvious what happened with the attempted murder, and I'm only in training. I think they honestly just wanted to say that there was a living person in jail for it, and get it over with."

"That's very wise for someone still in training..." The old man hesitated, then said,"Teaching. I'm in here for teaching."

Purple woke up. He could feel people staring at him.

"What?" He asked, after a long, awkward moment.

"You...Were screaming in your sleep." Nurse Gera finally said. Many other Irken students were also in the infirmary (there was an explosion caused by Skoodge and Zim getting paired up for a difficult chemistry project). They were also staring.

"If I'm strong enough to scream, I think I'm ready to leave." Purple said. Nurse Gera nodded, and went to send a request for permission to let him leave.

"Did Red _really_ try to kill you?" Spork asked, from the bed beside Purple's.

"What? No. What are you talking about?"

"They arrested him." Spork said dully, as if an innocent getting arrested for murder was no big deal.

"_WHAT?_" Purple got up and ran out the door, just as Gera came in to tell him he could leave. She was going to tell him that Mrs. Leons requested he go to her office, but he had already run out the door. He was running to his dorm room when he ran into someone. They spilled something on him. It took a moment for the burning to set in.

"You idiot!" Mr. Nathair snapped. He spray a stabilizer on Purple, and the burning stopped. "Why are you running!"

"Was Red really arrested?" Purple asked.

"Yes." Mr. Nathair said darkly. He didn't know for sure who had tried to kill Purple, but he had a fairly good idea.

"He didn't do it! I have to talk to you!" Purple stammered.

"I don't understand." Red admitted.

"I was in violation of a contract. You said you were in training...Do you know of the ITS's?"

"Interactive Teaching System."

"Yes. Good. Years ago, they didn't have those. They were trying to design them, but it wasn't working. They had to make it_ think_, like a living teacher. One day, two men came into my classroom to observe how I taught. After class was over, they told me they were on the development team for the ITS's. They said they wanted to put some nanobots in my bloodstream, and they would analyze how my body reacted to different situations. They had me sign a contract. They were going to pay me hundreds of millions of monies.

"They kept the bots in for a few weeks, and after the data was collected, made them dissolve into my blood. Totally harmless. The day after this was done, they came back into my classroom, with a police officer. They said they had somehow 'copyrighted' my teaching style. I asked them what that meant, and they said it meant I couldn't teach anymore.

"I've never been good at much anything other than teaching, but that didn't matter, because I was set for the rest of my life. But teaching was my passion. If they see me teaching any smeet, or even an adult, I'm arrested. A lot of the people in here were pulled out of training, and still need a teacher. So, I'm already in prison, so I decided to stay. I can teach here," The old man finished. Red was still a little confused, but mostly surprised.

"They put you in prison?...In a cell with someone they thought killed someone?"

"I've violated so many times...It has to be in the hundreds, how many times I've been arrested. A small charge isn't much, but that many times is an issue. And I'm old. It's getting tedious, dealing with me. They might hope you'll kill me." The old man laughed in his dry, humorless way.

"That's ridiculous."

"That they would do that, or that I would think that's the reason? Or both?" The old man asked.

"That they would think I would try to kill him, the person they thought I tried to murder. I don't even have any issues with him. And we're friends. He- He isn't the brightest person, but he's _not_ shallow. If he wasn't there to tell me I'm being stupid and whatever I'm about to try is stupid, I would have been in here or dead years ago!" The old man didn't say anything for at least a minute.

"That, and you're in love with him."

"...What?" Red cried out.

"I've worked with children your age for a long time...They're pretty scary, but easy enough to understand." Just as the old man finished talking, an officer walked in and grabbed Red's arm.

"C'mon, kid. It's time for your pre-trial interrogation."

"Wait! What was your name?" Red asked, while being dragged out the door.

"Kar Leons!" The old man responded, just as the door closed. Red had heard him.

"...So, it was Mrs. Leons?" Mr. Nathair asked, when Purple finished his story.

"Yes," Purple mumbled, fidgeting with a pencil he had picked up off of Mr. Nathair's desk. They were in his office. His office was dark and cold. It was in the absolute lowest level of the entire training facility. There were different chemicals in different shaped containers lining three of the walls. The last wall, behind Mr. Nathair, was filled completely with long and difficult looking books.

"That must be why she was in such a hurry to quit her job and go up to the surface," Mr. Nathair murmured, more to himself than Purple.

"She's gone?"

"She moved to Vort. There are small communities, ran by Vortians trying to rebel in any way possible."

"Why would they let her in?"

"Her father was imprisoned years ago for some ridiculous charge, by an Irken research company. He was in and out for years, and finally just decided to stay."

"When is Red's trial? Is he going to have one?" Purple asked, desperate.

"I don't know, foolish boy."

"I have to go!" Purple ran out the door. Mr. Nathair smacked his palm to his forehead.

**I confess! I stole Kar Leons' story from a short story I read a long time ago. Also, a few things about Mr. Nathair! He's based on Severus Snape from the Harry Potter series. I got the name Nathair by translating 'Snake' from English to Irish (Heheh, bonus facts).**


	5. Vort

Red listened to the 'trial' go on. It wasn't much of a trial. The Tallest told him what he had done wrong and was going to sentance him, probably to a deactivation.

"You almost killed him!" The Tallest said.

"I didn't. I didn't try to kill him. I had nothing to do with it," Red insisted. He felt numb. He thought he was going to be scared, or at least feel _something_, but he didn't. The Tallest ignored what he said.

"Your sentence is-" There was a crash from outside. The wall shook. The Tallest gaped at it. It gave in, and a giant ship broke through. It was clumsy, and would shake and accidentally fire a laser.

"_Well, c'mon!_" Someone yelled from inside it. Red recognized the voice, and ran up to it. A door appeared, and Red climbed in. The Tallest was knocked out. Red, at first, had thought Purple was the only one piloting it. But when he walked on, he saw Zim and Skoodge running around, trying to get the controls. Red felt relieved, because he _wasn't_ going to be deactivated, and because Purple was okay (more the former, but the latter was great). Zim hit a few buttons, and the ship went into hyper speed. They were off the planet in a few seconds. The ship lurched violently in either direction at random times.

"ZIM, YOU'RE A HORRIBLE PILOT!" Red screamed.

"YES, THAT IS A NICE FURNITURE OUTLET, BUT THAT'S _NOT _OUR ISSUE!" Zim yelled back. They were heading in toward the training planet.

"NOT THAT WAY!" Red yelled, taking a control. He hit a few buttons, and they went in another direction.

"WHERE ARE WE GOING?" Purple asked.

"THE PRISON PLANET!" Red responded.

"WHY?"

"I HAVE TO...YOU'LL SEE!" Red yelled. They crashed into the Prison planet. The ship was too big to be too damaged, but the ground wasn't. Red found the laser control. He blasted a hole in a room. He already knew which one it was. Kar Leons' astonished face looked up through the hole in the wall. Red opened the door. Kar climbed in. Red relocked the door, and started toward Vort.

"Where's Mrs. Leons?" Red asked Purple. Zim or Skoodge weren't in control of the ship, so he did need to yell.

"Vort," Purple replied.

"Why did you break me out, Red?" He asked, giving Red the 'teacher' look.

"I need you to talk to someone."

"Who?"

"You have a daughter, right?" Red asked.

"Yes."

"She's a teacher too."

"Yes." Kar said again.

"But she hates children."

"Yes, what's the point?"

"She...You'll...It's not my story to tell," Red said. He just didn't want to talk about it in front of Zim and Skoodge. "Purple, this is Kar Leons. Yes, _that _Leons." Purple turned around and gaped at Kar. Kar held out his hand. They shook hands. "Mr. Leons, this is the person I told you about," Red explained. They got near Vort.

"Stop the ship." Red commanded Zim. Zim narrowed his eyes at being bossed around, but did what he was told.

"ZIM!" Red and Purple screamed in unison.

"That was Skoodge!" Zim said back. Red smacked his palm to his forehead.

"Whatever. We have to go on smaller ships from here...Um...Zim! Skoodge! I have a _very_ important mission for you two! Stay here and make sure no one...I dunno...Blows us up or something!..._And don't blow us up yourselves_!" Red started toward the escape pods when someone grabbed his wrist. He turned around to see that is was Kar.

"When you said Mrs. Leons, who did you mean?" Kar asked.

"I assume it's your daughter. She's...I'll explain in the pod." Red, Purple, and Kar all climbed into a pod. Red started piloting toward the planet. He frowned, and looked down at the 'Location Finder' button. Below it was a censor-screen. He hit the button. It had three options: "By Species", "By Body Temp.", and "By DNA Tracking". He hit the last and grabbed Kar's hand. He slammed Kar's hand down on the censor. It took a moment to load.

"Data analysis complete. Subject DNA may be removed now," The computer's smooth, female voice said. It's voice was almost cold. Red let go of Kar's hand and looked at the map. It had a red flashing dot about halfway across the planet. He set the pod to 'Auto Pilot' and let go of the controls.

"Alright, Red, you can explain now," Kar said. Red couldn't explain, because someone came on through the video transmitter. It was from the ship they were just on. It was Tak, and she looked furious.

"_Purple!_" She hissed.

"What? I already paid you!" Purple snapped back.

"I said I would hack into the ship's database and disable the security for _five hundred_ monies! You gave me _fifty!_ When you get back, you owe me _four hundred fifty_ monies! Or I will annihilate you!" She was about to cut the connection when Red asked,

"When did you get on the ship?"

"I've been on the whole time, working on the security. I just _refused_ to work in the same room as that _defect_. He's gonna ruin someone's life, and I won't let it be me." Tak growled, not realizing the irony. "Ya'know what they've been doing this whole time? Using the Universal Sound Amplifier to _eavesdrop on conversations on far off planets!_ Idiots!...Not even worth it anyway. All they've heard is someone named Yoko and John getting introduced." Tak cut the transmission. Kar was about to demand an explanation (again) but the location finder beeped. They started heading toward wherever Mrs. Leons was.

"Kar, I know this isn't a good explanation, but Mrs. Leons was the one doing it to the person I told you about! Does that make any sense?"

"Yes, it make some sense." He frowned. Finding out your daughter was abusive to student's when teaching was your one and only passion wasn't ideal, to say the very least. "She never did like children..."

"What're you guys talking about?" Purple asked, sounding a bit alarmed. "And, why did we have to come here?"

"We can't exactly go back to the training planet when everyone thinks I'm a murderer." Red explained flatly. Before anyone could say anything else, there was a _bump_, and the ship started spiraling down.

Mrs. Leons watched with a slight amusement as the enemy ship was shot down. The crash seemed to shake the entire ground. A few Vortians scrambled to see who would dare come to a rebel Vort village-

"They're just kids," One of them said. There was silence for a moment. They couldn't kill _children_. They had some honor rules they had to stick to, because if they didn't, they'd be just like the Irkens they hated. "Well, there's an old man, too, but I don't think-"

"Kill him! He's old enough to not be here," Mrs. Leons insisted. Despite the fact that she was Irken, they trusted her. At least, trusted her enough not to kill her. Mrs. Leons didn't expect to see the unconscious body dragged out of the ship was her father.


	6. Escape

Mrs. Leons took a minute to collect her thoughts. The old man dragged out of the ship was her father. One of the other people dragged out of the ship was Purple. The last one was the person going on trial for the attempted murder she had committed.

"They use older people and kids so you _won't_ kill them," She lied quietly. The Vortians glanced at each other.

"We still can't kill them," Someone spoke up. There was a murmur of agreement.

"Yes, you can!" She snarled, picking up a spear off the ground. Metal end shining in the sun, she swung the spear around so the tip faced her unconscious father. This was really a coincidence, her father being the closest to where she was standing, but it didn't matter. They all had to die.

"ZIM! STOP EAVESDROPPING ON STRANGE CREATURES AND MAKE USE OF YOURSELF!" Tak screeched over the speaker system. No way was she getting within ten feet of _him_.

"Skoodge is doing it, too!" Zim squeaked. Myuki stared out the window. Wouldn't they have radioed the ship if they got to the surface safely?

"I think they might be in danger," Myuki interrupted the argument. The ship stopped swaying awkwardly as Skoodge and Zim stopped pulling random levers.

"But, if they don't get back, we're accessories to the crime," Skoodge gasped. If Red and Purple were killed, Red would be assumed guilty, and they would all be deactivated.

"PURPLE OWES ME FOUR HUNDRED FIFTY MONIES!" Tak screamed, piloting the ship toward the surface of the planet. She would have to go to the main control room with the defect to track where Red and Purple went, but a few minutes couldn't possibly hurt.

_The hospital, was this is it? No, the hospital was cold. This place was warm._

_No, wait…_

_It wasn't the _place_ that was warm. Something was under him…He was lying in a warm liquid._

The violent assault of the bitter, iron smell and the jolt of his own adrenaline woke Red up. The warm liquid below him was, sure enough, blood. He heard a slight, familiar snore. He glanced around.

A few astonished Vortians stared back at him. Purple was beside him. Red quickly checked, and found Purple hadn't been injured. The same thing couldn't be said about Kar. Someone had taken the spear from Mrs. Leons, but the damage was done. Kar was dead.

"Wait, Tak! Be careful! We don't know what's going on down there," Myuki cautioned the angry Irken. Tak was trying to pilot the ship herself. Zim and Skoodge were entertained themselves with the Universal Sound Amplifier.

"Purple can't die," Tak hissed. Before her comment could possibly be interpreted as kindness, she added, "He _still_ owes me those monies."

Red didn't take long to tell the Vortians his story. They listened carefully.

"This makes no sense," One of them mumbled.

"It would take way too long to completely explain," He sighed. Purple was still passed out. Red had dragged him along when the Vortians invited him into a near empty hut to explain why he was there. "Kar is definitely dead?"

"Yes, I am afraid so," The sympathetic Vortian confirmed. Mrs. Leons had also been taken into a hut to be interrogated.

Red wasn't sure what kind of story Mrs. Leons told the other Vortians, but it had to have been bad. They busted the door open and dragged him and Purple away.

"_Purple!_ Wake up!" Red hissed. Purple awoke.

"Where are we?" He asked.

"I dunno. Leons told those Vortians something. They think we've done something awful…I think they're going to try to punish us somehow."

"That's specific," Purple chuckled. He pulled his hands up, but it wasn't much use. He and red were both bound. The ground below them felt like dirt or sand.

"What are they going to do?" Red said to himself as much as anyone else. For some reason, his PAK wasn't working, or he'd simply cut himself out of the ropes. Purple sat about a foot away. "Hey, try cutting yourself out with your PAK." After cutting himself out, Purple helped Red.

"I FOUND THEM!" Tak declared triumphantly.

"Does everyone here scream everything, or is it just me?" Skoodge wondered aloud.

"Where are they?" Myuki asked.

"Where I'm heading."

It wasn't long before the ship landed in front of Red and Purple, squashing a few huts. The Vortians, who were going to wait till nighttime to punish them, stared at the giant ship. Red and Purple ran on, and they took off.

"What was going on?" Myuki asked. Red quickly explained what had happened; everything from the ship being shot down to him and Purple escaping.

Red, remembering his PAK malfunctioning, tried once again to make it work. It didn't.

"Myuki, can you tell if there's something wrong with my PAK?" Red asked. There was an awkward silence.

"Um…Only one person in here has taken PAK repair and functions classes," She said quietly. Everyone's eyes darted to Zim. The teachers usually got sick of him and passed him early, or simply transferred him to a different class.

"DON'T SLICE OFF MY HEAD!" Red snarled. Zim fumbled with the PAK.

"I can't help it!"

"YOU'RE GOING TO KILL AT LEAST ONE PERSON IN THIS ROOM, ZIM!"

"YOU'RE SAYING THAT TO THE PERSON WITH A KNIFE TO YOUR PAK?"

"DON'T YOU TRY THAT WITH ME!" Red growled. Purple and Myuki watched from halfway across the room.

"Should we stop them?" Purple asked.

"The question is, _could_ we stop them?" Myuki responded. It wasn't long before Red's PAK was fixed, and they made it to the training planet. The ship was left floating around in space, and they took a cruiser to the surface.

Mr. Nathair set his jaw. For once, he didn't know what to say.

"How do you expect them to believe you?" He asked. There was a knock at the door. Myuki entered without waiting for a response.

"Girl, don't enter without-" He couldn't finish his sentence.

"The Tallest died in that crash," She said, looking pale.


End file.
